Franking machine prices: What does a franking machine cost?

The four franking machine manufacturers Frama, Neopost, FP and Pitney Bowes are not particularly open about their franking machine prices. Similar to independent retailers, none of them publishes prices on their website. Instead, all franking machine suppliers require you to request a quote filling out a form. Although suppliers have good arguments for not disclosing prices, it leaves customers searching for a postage machine questioning if searching is even worth the effort.

Why postage meter suppliers don’t disclose franking machine prices

Businesses need a bespoke solution and the price range for franking machines is in fact very broad. Not disclosing prices on their websites and requiring contact with their sales people thus requires businesses to get consulted on which machine to get. This is especially important as some contracts include a long term commitment of up to six years at annual rates of a couple of hundred pounds.

Besides personal advice, franking machine manufacturers are quite flexible about their pricing. They tend to have different discount schemes in place and are able to give you some freebies such as ink cartridges or a bid of free postage to get you started on top. Personal contact with an account manager literally pays off if you play your card right.

The price range of postage meters

Of course, franking machine prices depend on their functionality. In our experience, you are able to get the smallest franking machines for less than £20 a month. FP Mailings and Pitney Bowes offer 12 month rental agreements below that price. Those include maintenance and in most cases, the only thing you pay on top is the ink and your postage. From Neopost, you will be able to get a 6-year lease contract for less than £20 a month as well. If you plan on buying one of those machines, plan to spend something between £500 to £800.

Mid-volume franking machines are normally sold using lease contracts for between three and six years. The longer the term, the less will be billed, often on a quarterly basis. Costs amount to about £200 for three year, £180 for five year and £160 for six year leases per quarter. Buying those machines suitable for up to 100 post items per day usually costs you between £2300 and £2700.

For larger machines that fully automate your mailroom processes, you can expect purchasing prices of over £20000. This is highly dependent on the machine as you might as well get some for less than half of that. Leasing them, expect them to cost about £250 and more per quarter.